When Bt cotton was introduced in the Malwa region of Punjab three years ago, it marked a change in the fortunes of farmers. The nightmare called American bollworm came to an end, production shot up significantly and crested last year at 26 lakh bales. Such was the euphoria that when former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh passed through the area during his pre-poll Vikas Yatra last year, he was showered with cotton. Today, the ecstasy has died an unnatural death. The reason is small, goes by the name of mealy bug, and has caused much damage, especially to the reputation of the “pest-resistant” Bt cotton.

“While it is difficult to quantify the damage, in terms of money, the farmers have already spent Rs 1,000-1,200 as additional costs per acre which will definitely cost them dearly,” says Punjab Agriculture Department Director Balwinder Singh Sidhu.

The Punjab Government has also submitted a report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that “there is an attack but is under control”.

“While American bollworm damaged some parts of the plant, the mealy bug destroys the entire plant,” says Mohinder Singh, a farmer of Jeevan Singh Wala village in Bathinda.

The white, persistent bug—called chitti bhoondi by farmers—is considered deadlier than the American bollworm and has not responded to the extensive spraying of pesticides by farmers. This has put a question mark over the much talked about pesticide resistance of the Bt cotton seed.

P.S. Sandhu, Chief Agriculture Officer in Bathinda, says that the chemical sprays have not yielded the desired results because “the pest attacks the whole plant. Spraying every part of the plant is a tedious task and when it doesn’t reach all the parts, the bug resurfaces and multiplies as its life cycle is very fast.”

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